Freight-car door.



PATBNTED AUG. 30, 1904- J. R. HERNDON.

FREIGHT OAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED APB.. 4, 1903.

NO MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SENT 1.

-BYM

AT'TYS.

No. 768,799. PATENTED AUG. 30, 1904.

y J. R. HBRNDN..

FREIGHT CAR DOOR.

APPLIoA'rIoN FILED APB. 4. 199s. No MODEL. z sums-SHEET 2.

BY M AT1-Ys.

Patented August B, 1904.

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH R. HERNDON, OF MARSHALL, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDVARDMARSHALL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

FREIGHT-CAR Doon.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 768,799, dated August30, 1904.

Application iiled April 4, 1903. Serial No. 151,110. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH R. HERNDoN, a citizen of the United States,residing in Marshall, in the county of Harrison and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Freight-Car Doors, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecitication.

My invention relates to a ush door forV freight-cars and means foroperating said door and locking it in a closed condition.

The invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fullydescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure I is an elevation of the wall of a freight-car with my door shownin closed and locked position.- Fig. II is a vertical section taken online II II, Fig. I. Fig. III is a vertical section through the upper endof the door-opening lever, the bolt-lever, and the catch by which thelevers are held. Fig. IV is an elevation of the car-wall with the doorshown in open position. Fig. V isa vertical section taken on line V V,Fig. IV. Fig. VI is a section on line VI VI, Fig. I.

A designates the wall of a freight-car,pro vided with a doorway B, thatextends from the car-floor C to a top bar D. Above the doorway at theexterior of the car-wall is a strip or plate E, to which a hangertrack-rail F is secured. The door-frame is rabbeted to receive the doorthat tits therein, the lower rabbet forming a shoulder G, upon which thedoor rests. (See Figs. II and V.)

l designates the door, which is supported from the track-rail F byhangers consisting of rail-engaging leaves 2 and door-carried leaves 3,that are connected by links 4, so that the door may be raised andlowered to seat it in the rabbets of the door-frame to rest upon thelower rabbet-shoulder G, as seen in Fig. II, when closed.-

v5 designates locking-bolts, the outer ends of which are loosely fittedin guides 6, set into the door 1, and which are adapted to enter keepers7, set into the side wall A of the car when the door is closed, as seenin Figs. I and with the keepers and at the same time stops for the boltsare provided. The inner ends of the locking-bolts 5 are pivoted at 8 toa swivel 9, that is rockingly mounted on a pivotbolt 10, by which theswivel is connected to the door l.

l1 is a hand-lever hinged to the swivel 9 at l2 and provided with atransverse aperture I3. (See Figs. III and IV.) The hand-lever 1l isadapted for service in rocking the swivel 9 to operate the locking-bolts5 for the purpose of effecting connection between said bolts and thekeepers 7 and the disconnection of such parts. The aperture 13 in thehandlever is adapted to receive an apertured'stud 14, projectingoutwardly from the car-door when the lever is swung inwardly to saidstud, as permitted by its hinge connection with the swivel 9. A

15 designates a bracket secured to the eX- terior of the car-wallbeneath the doorway therein. This' bracket has hinged to it at 16 adoor-operating lever consisting of an inner member 17 and an outermember 18, united by a pivot-pin 19, theV outer member being providedwith a transverse slot 20. The inner lever member I7 Ycarries a boss 2l,that is adapted to enter a socket-block 23, secured to the lower edge ofthe door. (See Figs. II, IV, and V.)

24 is a guide-rod mounted upon the car-wall, and 25 is a guide-chainsecured to the door l and carrying a ring 26, that rides upon saidguide-rod and directs the travel of the lower end of the door as itrides to and fro in the travel of the hangers on the track-rail F.

In the practical use of my door the parts are operated as follows: Whenthe door is in the open position, (seen in Figs. IV and V,) it hangssuspended to the full extentpermitted by its supporting-hangers, and itslower edge occupies a position below the shoulder Gr at the bottom or'the doorway. When the door is to be closed, the operating-lever,consisting of the members 17 and 18, is swung upwardly, so that the boss21 on its inner member will enter the socket 22 in the lower wall, andat the same time the lower edge of the door is swung outwardly to permitsaid boss to enter the socket-block 23 at the bottom of the door. Theoperating-lever is thenswung inwardly toward the door, in which movementthe door is lifted, so that its lower edge is raised to the level ol'the shoulder at the bottom ot' the doorway and will ride thereon intothe position seen in Fig. II, its upward travel being permitted byreason ot' the ilexible form of the door-hangers. lVhen the parts havebeen moved into the position stated, the aperture 2O in thedoor-operating lever receives the stud 14 and tits thereover, as seen inFigs. II and III. The bolt-operating lever 11 is then rocked to throwthe bolts 5 into engagement with the keepers 7 by rocking the swivel 9,and the lever is moved inwardly to the stud 14, which passes through theaperture 13 in said lever. been fitted to the stud 14 they are securedby a sliding pin 28. The pin 28 is carried by the bolt-operating lever11 and connected thereto by a slide-bolt 29. The slide-bolt 29 operatesin a slot 11 in the lever 11. The

point of the pin 28, which passes through the aperture in the stud 14,is preferably provided with a seal-wire aperture 30.

It will be understood that when the door is to be opened it is onlynecessary to disconnect the sliding pin 28 from the stud 14, when thebolt-operating and door-operating levers f After the levers have A maybe moved reversely from that in which they were moved in closing andlocking the door, and in so doing the door will lirst be unlocked andthen unseated from its position flush with the car-wall and may be movedalong the wall to unclose the doorway by the hangers riding' upon theirsupporting trackrail.

The door-operating lever is composed of the two parts 17 and 18, unitedby the pivotbolt 19, so that the outer member of said lever may swinglaterally with respect to the inner member when the door is open and thelever is hanging downwardly, as seen in Figs. IV and V, therebypreventing the lever from being broken by striking against any objectencountered thereby.

What I claim isY 1. In aea'r-door of the character described, thecombination with jointed hangers, the door hung thereon, and a track forsaid hangers; of a door-raising lever, a number ot' locking-bolts, alever for operating same, and one lock for locking simultaneously boththe doorraising lever and the bolt-operating lever.

2. In a car-door ot' the character described, the combination withjointed hangers, the door hung thereon, and a track upon which saidhangers travel; of a door-raising lever, a swivel, locking-bolts pivotedto said swivel, locking-fingers pivoted to said bolts, a lever forrocking said swivel, and a lock which locksv simultaneously both thedoor-raising lever, and the swivel-rocking lever.

JOSEPH R. HERNDON. In presence of SAMUEL R. BURNETT, W'ILLIAM I).JAnnon.

